Sebastian Vettel laid down a further championship gauntlet to Lewis Hamilton by blitzing his title rival in final practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.

Vettel, six points clear of Hamilton in the championship standings, posted yet another record-breaking lap of the famous Monte Carlo circuit on Saturday morning to finish a third of a second clear of his Ferrari team-mate Kimi Raikkonen.

Indeed Hamilton, whose Mercedes team struggled during practice here on Thursday, was only fifth in the order, an eye-watering 0.835 seconds down on Vettel's best time. Valtteri Bottas finished third for Mercedes with Red Bull's Max Verstappen one spot ahead of Hamilton.

Sebastian Vettel was fastest for Ferrari in final practice ahead of the Monaco Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton struggled to fifth during the final practice session at Monte Carlo

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Jenson Button, back in the McLaren cockpit this weekend with Fernando Alonso set to tackle the Indianapolis 500, finished 12th, fractionally slower than his team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne.

But the 37-year-old Briton is poised to start last for his 306th and probable final grand prix, after serving a 15-place grid penalty following a series of changes to his Honda engine.

McLaren's season has been derailed by a series of problems with their engine supplier Honda. The British team prop up the constructors' championship having failed to score a single point this year.

MONACO FINAL PRACTICE TIMES

1 Sebastian Vettel (Ger) Ferrari 1min 12.395secs

2 Kimi Raikkonen (Fin) Ferrari 1:12.740

3 Valtteri Bottas (Fin) Mercedes 1:12.830

4 Max Verstappen (Hol) Red Bull 1:12.940

5 Lewis Hamilton (Gbr) Mercedes 1:13.230

6 Daniel Ricciardo (Aus) Red Bull 1:13.392

7 Carlos Sainz (Spa) Toro Rosso 1:13.400

8 Daniil Kvyat (Rus) Toro Rosso 1:13.563

9 Kevin Magnussen (Den) Haas 1:13.596

10 Stoffel Vandoorne (Bel) McLaren 1:13.805

11 Sergio Perez (Mex) Force India 1:13.936

12 Jenson Button (Gbr) McLaren 1:13.976

13 Esteban Ocon (Fra) Force India 1:14.072

14 Felipe Massa (Bra) Williams 1:14.072

15 Nico Hulkenberg (Ger) Renault 1:14.283

16 Romain Grosjean (Fra) Haas 1:14.547

17 Lance Stroll (Can) Williams 1:14.675

18 Jolyon Palmer (Gbr) Renault 1:15.164

19 Pascal Wehrlein (Ger) Sauber 1:15.291

20 Marcus Ericsson (Swe) Sauber 1:15.863

Jenson Button arrives at the circuit ahead of what is set to be his final Formula One race

But McLaren's engine woes have continued and Button will suffer a 15-place grid penalty

McLaren's front wing end plate feature s a tribute to victims of the Manchester terror attacks

And following a series of changes to the parts on Button's Honda engine after an issue was detected following second practice at the principality on Thursday, the Englishman is poised to start his one-off race from the back of the pack.

'We have changed Jenson's MGH-U/TC after detecting an issue with his MGU-H after FP2,' a Honda spokesperson said ahead of final practice.

'The MGU-H/TC will be Jenson's fifth which means he will receive a 15-place grid penalty for the race.'

The narrow confines of the Monte Carlo street circuit makes it one of the toughest tracks on the calendar. Rookie Lance Stroll crashed out of practice on Thursday, and Esteban Ocon, the young Frenchman also making his Monaco debut, was in the wars here, too.

Esteban Ocon crashed out for Force India, putting his qualifying hopes in doubt

Ocon brushed the barrier on the entrance to the chicane at the swimming pool section, sustaining damage to his front-right suspension, before he headed straight into the wall.

His Force India mechanics will now face a race against time to get his car ready for qualifying later on Saturday.

There was also trouble for Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo in the closing stages of the one-hour session as he suffered a brake failure.

British driver Jolyon Palmer meanwhile, was 18th, 2.7secs adrift of Vettel and nearly one second slower than his Renault team-mate Nico Hulkenberg.